CHAPTER ONE : How Things Can Change!

CHAPTER ONE

How Things Can Change!

Most people seem to want to be a “Holiday Rep.” They see the Rep in the hotel for an hour and think he lives “the life of Riley” on the beach and in the bars for the rest of the day. Well I didn’t!
For me, happiness was living in a small sleepy village in North Wales, drinking pints of Welsh Bitter and riding my horse across the hills on a rainy day. I was a successful salesman. My challenge came in meeting my monthly figures in the Monday to Friday world of Sales and Commerce and meeting up with the boys in the local to watch the racing and put the world to rights. We were “experts on everything”.
That was my world for almost fifteen years. I saw no reason for it to change. Another twenty to twenty five years and then I would retire. It would become my turn to sit in the corner and talk about the price of pigs and all things “country.”
Little did I realize that everything would change. Life would never be the same again and, as for pigs and pints, well, they were a never to happen. The axe fell with the fatal words, “Sorry Joe, but we’ve got to let you go!” My future was now insecure.
Redundancy for me was another word for retirement. I didn’t want to admit that another person could pull the strings. My life plan was mine. I was in control. Only I could decide when things could end. That was why I found things rather confusing and could not adjust. Being able to sit in the pub I found was not what I wanted. I had to find something else, where I could command. With my experience, it shouldn’t take me long to become gainfully employed once more. After all, I had lots of talents to offer. I had my plan.
Three months later I’m still gainfully unemployed and collecting my giro. The “Job Club” is the highlight of my week as I have swapped my agenda for job applications. My high power salary has been replaced by 39 pounds 45 pence subsistence. Every newspaper is read from cover to cover with the “Sits Vac” being first priority. I find myself in the company of a completely different circle of people whom, usually, I would never have dreamt of mixing with. The self-confidence I possessed in the fast world of business was beginning to fade. I was now finding it hard to mix with the guys I could once compete with on an equal level. At the same time the whole unemployment thing taught me a lot. Previously I was only interested in material things. Every sales target achieved was a bonus that would buy
another “state of the art” whatever it was. I began to realize that money was not the be all and end all. I began to look at myself differently and enjoy the things that, before, I had not even noticed. Cutting the grass can be fun on a sunny day and a properly cooked meal tastes so much better than a microwave dinner for one. I was making the adjustment and joining a world I never knew existed, and if I did, probably would never have acknowledged.
One of the daily tasks that I set myself was to spend the afternoon at the local library. They had a very nice coffee shop and I found it rather fun to pass the time with a cake and espresso just people watching. When that ran out of time they had a good newspaper section where I could continue my search for gainful employment. The problem I was encountering was that all the advertisements were looking for young, degree holders who had no experience of the commercial world but could equally be trained to do whatever the companies wanted and, for sure, would be paid less money. Now I was beginning to realize that I would have to review my game plan, start from the scratch. A career change was called for, but what would it be? It would not be long before the answer would arrive and, for me, from a most unexpected source.
On one of my visits to the library I happened to pick up a newspaper, which, usually I would not have considered. This paper had a supplement specializing in a different profession daily. Previously, I would only read it when it covered the Sales sector. Strangely, today it seemed to pull me towards the table. As if by magic, I could not resist the urge to pick it up. Immediately, there it was on page four, the advertisement that would change my life.
“Overseas Representative! Must speak Portuguese or Greek!”
“I don’t speak either.” I thought as I glanced down the page. However, the thing that appealed to me was the fact that they weren’t asking for university “haven’t dones.” It was actually my age group that they were looking for. “Anyway I can speak French, so what the hell!” “I’ll give it a go!”
So, that was the beginning.

A LIFE IN THE DAY!

A LIFE IN THE DAY

By

JOSEPH C. FRY



SYNOPSIS



The subject matter is a work of non-fiction and is autobiographical, taking the reader along as the author faces mid-life redundancy and then finds himself in the strange world of the overseas holiday representative, usually a younger person’s line of work.
As a travelogue it takes in Spain, Portugal, the Mediterranean, and finally cruises down to Brazil.
Being approximately 65,000 words in length and written in the first person, a series of adventures and situations, some hilarious, some very sad, unfold which carry the reader along on a voyage of discovery.
In short, it is a journey through life which shows that nothing is unusual, and that in everything there is humour and a bright side. It is not only the young who possess the wonder of life. It shows that people never really grow old; they just become wiser, and most learn how to use this knowledge.